Gareth Bale: Champions League ventures or stay loyal?

At this current moment in time, Gareth Bale is currently in talks with his beloved Tottenham over the extension of his contract which could see him earn a lucrative deal of £150,000-a-week. However, his future is far from certain at this moment in time with a continuous summer saga of speculation and rumours saying he could be on his way to Real Madrid or Manchester United. The Welsh wizard was gutted on the back of last season when Spurs narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification to their bitter North London rivals Arsenal and is rumoured to be looking for a club where he will have Champions League football. But now his future lies on whether he wants to continue his fabulous form at White Hart Lane and help them push for the Champions League next year or propel his career to new heights by making the switch to one of the European heavyweights?

This saga has been ongoing since the start of the summer and there has been reports with hardened facts that point in the direction of Bale’s future but some tittle tattle reports from Spanish newspapers claimed they had secured Bale on a 6-year-deal subject to him passing a medical. Those rumours were quickly quashed by the British media and straight away, reports have surfaced that it would take a world record fee of around £85 million to prize him away from Tottenham’s clutches. Andre Villas-Boas has maintained the clubs stance on Bale and has reiterated there desire to keep him at the club rather than cash in on him. He recently admitted that the club have actually been in talks with the clubs top scorer since the start of last year over extending his deal and have not just started to negotiate with the player in the wake of recent transfer rumours.

The winger/second striker has made little comment over his future has neither admitted nor denied he will be departing the exit doors of White Hart Lane. However, bookmakers are now predicting him to make the sensational £85 million switch and is now odds-on favourite slashing his odds from 5/2 to 2/1. The club, Villas-Boas and chairman Daniel Levy are categorically denying he is packing his bags to head off to sunny Spain so it appears now that it is down to the player himself to make the decision and put everybody’s anxious wait at rest. Bale scored 21 league goals last year for Spurs and acclaimed both the PFA Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year for 2013 making him only the second Welsh player to acclaim the Player of the Year award on two occasions alongside Mark Hughes. If he stayed at Spurs and repeated his form, he could surpass that total and write himself into the history books.

If Bale decides that he wants to depart White Hart Lane, Spurs must decide whether they want to cash in on a huge sum of money that would open up a spending spree or reject the request completely and convince their star player to stay on. After a such a near miss for the Champions League last season, Spurs will be looking to draft in a crop of talented to players to spearhead their push for a top 4 finish and such a hefty sum for Bale may be too good to refuse for the club. Spurs are currently locked in talks with Valencia of the acquisition of their star striker Roberto Soldado. Soldado who has scored 81 goals in 141 games for Valencia in all competitions is a key player for the club and they have maintained that Spurs would have to trigger a clause in his contract of 30 million euros (£26 million) to prize him away to England but Spurs are still in talks with the striker and the club about possibly reducing the fee.

If Spurs are to make a legitimate push for the Champions League then its these sort of players they need to be signing, ones of real quality and a calibre that is worthy of playing the Champions League. Spurs so far have brought in Paulinho for a fee of around £17 million which is a good indicator of their intentions this season and they have also drafted in the lesser known Belgian winger Nacer Chadli for £7 million so they are keen to do business. They have also been linked with the likes of Bernard, Edin Dzeko and Christian Benteke but little movement has been done on that front especially because Benteke has recently agreed a new four-year-deal at Aston Villa. They have even been linked with a shock move for Real Madrid’s former striker Gonzalo Higuain because of his £30 million price tag but he has recently joined Rafa Benitez at his new club Napoli. A move for Soldado would be a pleasant acquisition for the home support but the question remains can they him both him and Bale in the squad for next season? Ultimately the choice is down to the Welsh wizard over whether he sees a Champions League future at White Hart Lane.